Impossible Burger receives kosher certification

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Consumers following a kosher diet can now add the Impossible Burger to their menu of meal options. Impossible Foods, maker of the plant-based Impossible Burger, received its official kosher certification from the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the world’s largest kosher certification agency.

“Getting kosher certification is an important milestone,” said Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. “We want the Impossible Burger to be ubiquitous, and that means it must be affordable and accessible to everyone — including people who have food restrictions for religious reasons.”

The Impossible Burger is now recognized as a Kosher Pareve food, marked with the universally-recognized OU symbol and included in the OU database registry of more than 200,000 kosher certified foods. Jewish dietary laws (known as “kashrut”) prohibit the consumption of pigs, shellfish and most insects, and they specify certain slaughterhouse processes. In addition, dairy and meat products may not be prepared or eaten together.

A Rabbinic field representative toured the Impossible Foods’ 67,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Oakland, California, which produces 500,000 lbs. of plant-based protein per month. The rabbi confirmed that all ingredients, processes and equipment used to make the Impossible Burger are compliant with kosher law, derived from the Torah’s Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

The Impossible Burger contains no animal ingredients. The burger, which was developed in 2011 by Impossible Foods, is formulated to look and taste like conventional ground beef but is made from plant ingredients. The use of a soy root-derived molecule called “heme” gives the burger its key beef-like attributes, according to the company.

“I’m really excited to be able to announce that the Impossible Burger is now kosher. And because our meat is purely plant-based, for the first time we can all enjoy a delicious — and strictly kosher — cheeseburger,” said Impossible Foods’ Chief Science Officer Dr. David Lipman.

Impossible Foods is in the process of getting Halal certification later this year.